Improved arrangement of flues for drying tobacco



'NI/TED STATES PATENTL OFFICE.

WILEY E. IIIX, 0E RoME, GEORGIA,

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 31,081, dated January 8, 1861.

.To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILEY B. BIX, of Rome, in the county of Floyd and State of Georgia, have invented a new and Improved Mode of Drying Tobacco; and I d0 hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, referencefbeing had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a side sectional view of my in- Vention,taken in the line x x, Fig. 2; Fig. 2, a horizontal section of the same, taken in the line y y, Fig. 1. l

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the two figures.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, Iwill proceed to describe it.

A represents a building, which may be of rectangular form and of any suitable dimensions, and B B C are lues, which are at the bottom of the building, and communicate with a proper fire-chamber at the outer side of the building. The flues may be of masonry or cast-iron.

B B are the two principal lues, which are united at their back ends by a semicircular passage, a, the latter communicating with the smoke-stack D, as shown clearly in Fig. 2.- The dues B B are connected about midway by the iiue C, at oneend of which there is a damper, E, and the flue B,at the opposite end of C, is provided with two dampers, F F', one at each side of the due C. (See Fig. 2.)

The operation is as follows: The tobacco to be dried is spread or properly disposed within the house or building A, and when an even distribution of heat is required within the building the heat from the furnaceis allowed to pass equally through the two dues B Band flue C, all the dampers being open. If the heat is required at one side only-the side, for instance, over the iiue B-the damper E is closed, and also dampers F F. If a gentle heat is required over the due B', the dampers F F are partially opened, and if a heat is required over a iiue, C, the damperE is opened, and also damper F. Thus it will be seen that the heat is placed under the complete control of the operator.-

Having thus described my invention,what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The employment, in the drying of tobacco, of a system of dues, B B C, and chimney D, with dampers E F Ff, arranged and operating together within a suitable inclosure, A, as and for the purposes herein shown and described.

WILEY B. HIX.

Witnesses:

' HENRY H. STORY,

J AMEs M. SMITH. 

